Fierce Grace is my favourite hot yoga studio in London. The City branch (based in Old Street) is my home studio and I’ve adopted the standalone Brixton branch as my second studio.

Fierce Grace is a bespoke hot yoga practice with roots in Bikram but modified to include a more expansive range of poses and range of different classes. All their classes take place in a heated studio, normally around 37 degrees with high humidity. They also offer a beginner class which is “warm” rather than hot, to ease the transition for those new to hot yoga.

I’ve been practising with Fierce Grace since 2014 and during that time it’s grown to be one of the most popular yoga studios around. They have some amazing experienced teachers and are committing to supporting and growing the new teacher that come through their teacher training programme. If you’re not sure which teacher to pick, I can personally recommend Emma Croft, Mark Oram, Nina Rashid, Sara Gordon, Lisa Hong.

Classes

In terms of classes, there are 6 different ones available:

Classic: most akin to Bikram, practised with no music, 90 minutes.

Fierce Grace: a modified version of the Classic class with music and more inversions, 90 minutes.

Core: a deep stretch class, less inversions and more floor work but with deeper stretches and poses which offer advanced flexibility variations, 75 minutes.

The Beast: an advanced class, based on the Fierce Grace class but with extra inversions, arm balances, deep stretches and advanced backbends, some really impressive stuff! 105 minutes.

Fix: a condensed version of the Fierce Grace class, designed to fit into 50 mins rather than 90 minutes.

Wild: a yoga cardio hybrid class that involves lots of transition in and out of postures to fire up the muscles. 60 mins.

I love all of the classes but my particular favourites are the Core class and the Fierce Grace class. The Beast is also fun to try on Saturdays when I’m free, as long as I haven’t had a heavy Friday night!

Prices

Admittedly all that comes at a price, and I’m the first to admit that it’s not cheap. A drop in is £17, with additional discounts for packs, monthly or yearly subscriptions. A 10 class card takes it down to around £12.50 each class (depending on which studio you are going for), a monthly subscription is around £100 and a yearly subscription just shy of £1,000. Students can benefit from concession prices which are around 20% off. Full details can be found here: http://www.fiercegracecity.com/buy.php

It is quite an expensive package and for some people it will be out of budget. The good news is that they do an excellent intro offer at £39 for 30 days of unlimited yoga, and even better, it’s on CLASSPASS!

I love the teachers and the studios so I think it is really worth it, particularly if you are paying through a bulk package rather than one-off drop ins, but try it out and let me know what you think. It’s a no brainer if you are on Classpass.

If you are new to Classpass and would like £20 off your first month, click here and here

Amenities

Both the City studio and the Brixton studio have clean wood / plastic laminate floors, changing rooms and showers. Mats and towels can be rented for around £1 each.

The studios are equipped with hairdryers but not the full set of mod cons (a la 1Rebel). Shower gel is provided but you have to bring your own shampoo and conditioner.

If Fierce Grace revamped the changing rooms and added that “lux” spin, then I think it will take it a class above the rest of the yoga offerings in London and give it a USP. Watch this space…

As many of you will already know, Classpass have confirmed that they will are hiking up their prices to £110/month 😦

To lessen the pain, you can use my referral code which will give you £20 off your first month, no matter which package you pick. You are also under no obligation to continue, so you can stop after one month if it’s not right for you.

I’m slowly trying out all the spin studios in London and I have to say that my all time favourite so far is Pure Ride. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good session at Psycle or BOOM cycle but in terms of a maximum workout, Pure Ride wins hands down each time.

Spin the legs, spin spin spin, power power power!

The bikes at Pure Ride are all fitted with an output screen that shows your RPM, speed, wattage, splits and calories burnt. I’m a numbers junkie and I find that knowing my stats really motivate me to work hard. There’s no cheating with the resistance dial when the percentage is there on screen! The extra motivation comes from a cheeky sideways glance at your neighbour, his/her resistance is high, so my resistance has to be higher! I try not to peek but I always do… bad Feng!

Music sometimes doesn’t quite fit with the working set tempos (in the Performance session)

No weights (in the Performance session) – this doesn’t bother me but it might bother others

My favourite instructor Rich always gives really helpful benchmarks during the class, guiding you as to your RPM, watt output and resistance. When he shouts out his numbers it always puts mine to shame! The other thing I really like about the class is the communal feel – the instructor is constantly pedalling with you so its feels like you are all in it together.

Today I ran the super duper totally awesome Vitality Hackney Half Marathon. I’m so pleased I did, I didn’t commit to the race until last week but I can definitely say that it was an amazing race.

Hooray, another medal! #magpie

I’d signed up to this race back in late 2015, fuelled by the endorphins after my Royal Parks Half Marathon. I signed up with the best of intentions, planning on putting in loads of training and to smash my Royal Parks time.

Time passed, I got distracted by climbing, dinners, faffing around, the cold, spin, basically anything to avoid running. Long story short, until about 2 weeks ago, I’d done a grand total of 0km of running since October 2015. At the end of April, I did a tentative run to work (3km) and spent the whole piffling distance thinking my lungs would explode. No no to the Hackney half I decided.

With much cajoling from friends (mostly from my climbing and running friend, Lenny), I decided, a week before the race, to run it at a slow pace. I knew that I would be disappointed in myself if I didn’t give it a go. So I squeezed in one 10km run (which was just sub 1h, but I’d emptied the tank to do that) and one final relaxed 6km run before the race itself.

Obligatory kit shot

I turned up this morning to Hackney Downs, with a grand total of 19km of training since early October 2015 under my belt, not having even ran the race distance on a cumulative basis. I was definitely nervous but once I got to the start pens, I calmed down and was genuinely looking forward to it.

Walking up to the start zone, loving the blue skies!

Pre-run smiles all round

Conditions were hot (a blistering 27 degrees) but otherwise good. I was excited and proud to be running in my local borough of Hackney. It was a pleasure to run whilst being cheered on and supported by local residents, many of whom spraying runners with hose pipes to make sure we didn’t overheat. Kids and locals were on hand with additional water and jelly baby stations, all really touching.

I was aiming for a modest sub 2.15, given my lack of training. I am happy to say that I did it with change to spare, completing the course in 2.12.43. It was significantly slower than my Royal Parks time but I really enjoyed the race and thought I was better on my pacing. I also rediscovered how much I enjoy running!

Star shaped medals, yes, I LOVE STARS, woo, endorphin high woooo

I’m now sat in bed with my laptop in one hand and foam roller in the other, hatching grand plans for my next half marathon. I felt that I could have given today’s run a lot more welly so I’m super excited to put down some solid training and see what times I could push towards. Who knows, sub 2h, sub 1.55, maybe even faster? I’ll post my training plan in the next few days.

One final (hilarious) note – this is why you need suncream, boys and girls…

No filter, no makeup, it’s the Feng, the whole Feng and nothing but the Feng

If any of you are having doubts about running your first long race, be that a marathon, half marathon or a 10k, I can’t encourage you strongly enough. There’s no shame in walking some the of sections, it doesn’t matter if you’re not the fastest runner, it’s all about your own personal goals and the experiences you gain along the way. Peace out Hackney!